Easy Banana Smoothie Recipe:
This delicious, pretty healthy recipe can be customized to please pretty much everyone’s individual taste. It’s versatile in that you can make the smoothies with the freshest in-season fruits or enjoy the convenience of using frozen fruit if you wouldn’t use all the fresh fruit before it goes bad. I do prefer to use fresh bananas in my recipe but they can also be sliced and frozen. The ingredients are pretty simple and can be adjusted for sweetness by using less sugar or if you like a slushy smoothie, like I do, add more ice - which also cuts the sweetness a bit. The banana makes for a pretty creamy smoothie so I don’t add milk or yogurt to mine. After you’ve used the recipe a few times, experimenting with your favorite fruits, you’re sure to find a winner. We made three today, Banana Berry & Pineapple, Banana Mango Peachy Pineapple, and my favorite Banana Berry Blend. Each batch makes 2 servings and you can freeze one for later, it’ll defrost in about 2 hours at room temperature.
Banana Berry & Pineapple:
1 Whole Medium Banana
1 Cup Strawberry
1 Cup Pineapple
2 Tbsp Turbinado sugar
1/3 Cup Orange juice
8 Ice cubes (or more if you want a slushier smoothie)
Break up the banana, or slice if you must and drop into the blender. Wash your fruit and slice if necessary, not such a big deal with the berries but a must for the pineapple. My pineapple had directions on the back of the label for the correct way to slice it up. Drop your sliced fruit into the blender. Add the sugar, though I have to say, if I am saving my sugar intake for dessert later - I forgo the extra sugar. A lot of fruit is ripe enough to sweeten the smoothie anyway. Add the orange juice, and here, I think a little pulp adds more flavor. Finally, add the ice and blend it up until it’s smooth!
Banana Mango Peachy Pineapple:
1 Whole Medium Banana
1 Cup Mango
1/2 Cup Peach (I removed the skin when I sliced it)
1/2 Cup Pineapple
2 Tbsp Turbinado sugar
1/3 Cup Orange juice
8 Ice cubes (or more if you want a slushier smoothie)
Banana Berry Blend:
1 Half Medium Banana
1 Cup Strawberry
1 Cup Blueberries
2 Tbsp Turbinado sugar
1/3 Cup Orange juice
8 Ice cubes (or more if you want a slushier smoothie)
Adjustments that can be made to this recipe include:
It’s basically a 1 Banana: 2 Cups Fruit recipe - so try what you like, the possibilities are endless!
Try eliminating the extra sugar, the riper the fruit, the sweeter the smoothie.
Use another fruit juice or add a splash of water instead (necessary for the blender blades to move freely)
Add more ice, an easy way to sneak more water into your day and stay hydrated!
Peel the Love!
Dole has set out to remind everyone that bananas aren't just for brown bag lunches or looking good in the fruit arrangements. “The Peel the Love" “Banana Cabana” Tour is traveling around the county in custom food trucks that will offer recipes, samples and even swag—t-shirts, sunglasses, etc... using Dole bananas and other fruit. They've also reached out to regional bloggers, like myself, to help put the word out. In the Virginia Beach/Norfolk area, they'll be visiting the following locations within the next few days:
- Sunday, 29 June - Norfolk Naval Commissary, 1588 Mall Drive, Norfolk, VA, 11:00am – 5:00pm
- Monday, 30 June – Oceana Naval Commissary, 1300 Oceana Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA, 3:00pm – 6:00pm
If you're outside of the Hampton Roads area, they'll be stopping at these spots too:
- Saturday, 28 June – 7Th Annual Chesty Puller Memorial Bridge 10K and Kids Fun Run, Historic Downtown, West Point, VA (Town Square), 7:00am – 10:00am
- Thursday, 3 July – Fort Lee VA. Commissary, 400 Shop Rd., Fort Lee, VA, 11:00am – 5:00pm
The events are free and ID cards are not required to visit the NOB and Oceana cabana stops. Grilled, blended, sliced—however you might like them, delicious treats made from bananas will be available for visitors to try. You can grab a merch item if you bring by a receipt displaying a purchase of 3 lbs. of Dole bananas too! You' might possibly see a walking banana if you stop by the food truck—who wouldn't want to see a huge walking banana?
Dole selected cities that have shown to have a great appreciation for the yellow fruit when planning out stops on the Peel the Love tour. In all, 26 banana-loving cities will be visited by the Banana Cabana Memorial Day through Labor Day.
To help celebrate the banana, make a cold, refreshing smoothie using the recipes my wife and I use here at home. Click the photo below:
Follow this link for more information on Peel the Love
Here is the official blurb from Dole:
Peel the Love is a year-long Dole campaign that celebrates the fun, irreverence and whimsical side of bananas and other tropical fruit. The program includes everything from delicious new banana recipes, serving, pairing and entertaining tips.
About DOLE Bananas
DOLE® Bananas are the top-selling banana in America and the world — in both conventional and organic product categories. From its founding by James Drummond Dole, the company has built its reputation on a ceaseless commitment to quality. Today, the DOLE® brand stands for more than 150 years of quality produce — and the world’s largest supplier of fresh fruits and vegetables, including bananas. Dole strives to grow, produce, harvest, transport and distribute its bananas and other produce in the most environmentally and socially conscious way possible. Dole Fresh Fruit Company is based in Westlake Village, Calif.
About Dole Food Company, Inc.
Dole Food Company, Inc., with 2013 revenues from continuing operations of $4.5 billion, is one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of high-quality fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. Dole is an industry leader in many of the products it sells, as well as in nutrition education and research. For more information, please visit www.dole.com.